SA's top diplomat in the US west coast city of Los Angeles is accused of rejecting more than 30 properties offered to her by the department of international relations (Dirco) and is said to have set her eyes on properties on Beverly Hills' super-plush Rodeo Drive.
LA consul-general Thandile Sunduza is also said to have made demands that have irked potential landlords, including importing furniture from the East and changing kitchen cupboards and wall units.
In addition, she's being accused of being uncouth, and lacking a full grasp of her job.
As head of the South African mission in LA, Sunduza is tasked with promoting SA as an investment destination. The US is SA's third-largest trading partner. But the accommodation scandal has raised questions about her suitability for the job.
SA has four missions in the US - the embassy in Washington and consular offices in Chicago, New York and LA.
Since January the South African government has spent more than R650,000 on temporary accommodation for Sunduza in a series of apartments.
The state has budgeted R238,253 a month for her permanent home, but department officials said she wants to spend more than R260,000 of taxpayers' money per month.
Almost 10 months after Sunduza landed in the US, officials in the consul-general's office have failed to find a place that meets her demand to live in Beverly Hills.
In official correspondence to SA's ambassador to the US, Nomaindia Mfeketo, a senior official says Sunduza wants a house on the upmarket neighbourhood's famous Rodeo Drive. The street houses the most expensive stores in the US and is home to Hollywood superstars and filmmakers.
Official reports reveal that the former ANC MP has had a falling-out with officials she found in the LA office when she landed in January. They accuse her of gross incompetence and of not being suitable for the post.
International relations & co-operation minister Naledi Pandor has launched an investigation into the saga.
Details of the frosty relationship between Sunduza and senior consular official Shadrack Nepfumbada emerged during a meeting of the parliamentary committee on international relations last week.
Sunduza had complained to the committee about Nepfumbada's failure to secure her permanent accommodation. She accused him of insubordination and of sabotaging her. The committee is chaired by a friend of Sunduza, Tandi Mahambehlala.
MPs were told last week that the consulate had identified more than 30 properties that were either too expensive or whose owners had changed their minds about leasing the property to the consulate.
In a letter to the committee, Sunduza said Nepfumbada wanted "to destroy me, sabotage, frustrate me and make me fail".
"I must say that this is now the most unpleasant place to be not because of work or delivery but the personalities I work (sic) here where I strongly believe the aim is to sabotage me and my work," she writes in a complaint to parliament.
Sunduza reveals that she stayed at a hotel for her first seven days in the US before moving to a small one-bedroom self-catering apartment with her five-year-old daughter.
"There was an excuse that Los Angeles is a tourist destination, it is full," she writes.
She turned down an apartment previously used by another South African official, Nthabiseng Matlala, because of its condition, and spent some time in a property next to a construction site. This affected the health of her and her daughter, so she went back to the apartment she'd turned down.
"Currently I'm staying in the apartment Ms Matlala used to stay in, with dirty mats falling curtains, we currently sleep on the floor with my child because it's wooden… It's a high level of insult. And were recently sick with my daughter. If no action is taken then it gives me liberty for a lawsuit, health conditions are bad. I'm not here for luxury but dignity is what I expect from a Person representing the PRESIDENT," she writes.
We had visited more than 27 houses since she arrived in January and before Covid-19, and she has not been able to make a decision, coming with excuses that houses are expensive in Los Angeles, which is not true
— Senior consular official Shadrack Nepfumbada
During the open meeting with the parliamentary committee, Dirco officials declined to discuss the details of the investigation. MPs appeared to side with Sunduza, recommending that Dirco recall Nepfumbada.
However, the Sunday Times has seen official correspondence alleging months of abuse of the system by Sunduza.
Reports compiled by Nepfumbada paint a picture of an incompetent, unsuitable and uncouth diplomat.
"We had visited more than 27 houses since she arrived in January and before Covid-19, and she has not been able to make a decision, coming with excuses that houses are expensive in Los Angeles, which is not true," Nepfumbada wrote to Mfeketo in May.
"It seems that her main focus is to find a big house located in Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills areas and that's what has consumed her time," reads the e-mail.
In other correspondence, the official claims that Sunduza makes extra demands on landlords, asking them to spend money to renovate or refurbish their houses.
"For example the house we lost located at 236 Rodeo Drive, consul-general had two pages of demands, requesting landlord to change kitchen and bathroom appliances of the house, wall units, etc. [An official] even reprimanded our consul-general to stop making extra demands from prospective landlords.
"Another house we lost because the consul-general requested the landlord to import furniture and carpets from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey," Nepfumbada writes.
He says Sunduza wanted to exceed approved rental norms, comparing herself with consul-generals from developed countries who had purchased their official residences many years ago.
The report says some estate agents from the mission's service provider database pulled out because they felt that they had wasted their fuel and energy moving around with a client who did not know what she wanted.
Nepfumbada has now been summoned to Pretoria for a "consultation", apparently to explain his clashes with Sunduza.
Sunduza declined to comment, referring questions to Dirco.
Dirco's Lunga Ngqengelele said the search for an official residence took place in areas recommended by the local office of the US state department - areas where many diplomats reside. These were Century City, Beverly Hills and Hancock Park.
Ngqengelele said between August and October the mission submitted three properties - on Rodeo Drive, in Hancock Park and in Beverly Grove - to its head office for approval, and these were approved. "In all cases, the agent responded that they have lost the property before signing the contract," he said.
My experience working with the consul-general for a few months has shown that she does not understand diplomatic practices [and] is uncouth in the way she carries and conducts herself, which is sometimes embarrassing especially amongst the public or when we have external visitors at the mission
— Senior consular official Shadrack Nepfumbada
An investigation by a counsellor at SA's permanent mission at the UN in New York recommended that alternative, longer-term accommodation be found for Sunduza and that a team-building exercise be conducted to ensure that the mission staff refocuses on the work that needs to be done.
Nepfumbada's report says Sunduza lacks "diplomatic gravitas and protocol etiquette".
"My experience working with the consul-general for a few months has shown that she does not understand diplomatic practices [and] is uncouth in the way she carries and conducts herself, which is sometimes embarrassing especially amongst the public or when we have external visitors at the mission."
Sunduza, according to Nepfumbada, embarrassed the mission by not adhering to its dress code.
"It is embarrassing, especially when we have visiting guests in the mission or when we go outside the office for meetings," reads his report.
Nepfumbada also claims that Sunduza drops President Cyril Ramaphosa's name all the time to have her way.
She "always expresses this statement: 'I'm appointed by the president. I was a member of parliament and chairperson of the arts & culture parliament portfolio committee and I have connections with many ministers back home in SA, MPs, and I have direct contact with the president.'
"You can see this in some of her e-mail messages and correspondences whereby she quoted President Ramaphosa's name and uses the president's name to instil fear among the staff," he writes.
A source close to Sunduza said none of the allegations in Nepfumbada's reports were true.
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